HARRIS CLAIMS COPS BACK HIM ON POT

TORONTO -- Premier Mike Harris says "rank and file" police agree with him
that possession of marijuana should not be legalized.

Both opposition leaders and the Canadian Association of Police Chiefs have
advocated taking the criminal code sting out of simple possession.

"Dalton McGuinty and Howard Hampton have taken a position that it should be
decriminalized; we should be soft in this area," Harris told reporters
yesterday. "I think it is 180 degrees the wrong position.

"Now is the time to teach respect for the law, to teach responsibility, to
teach accountability and responsibility for one's actions," he said.

McGuinty and Hampton admitted they experimented very briefly with marijuana
in their younger years. Harris said he didn't, but was more attracted to
booze in his youth.